David Ramirez and the East High School football program are not going to make excuses.

The Eagles head football coach will lead his team onto the Dutch Clark Stadium turf at 7 tonight when East meets Longmont in a nonleague game to kick off the 2014 season.

East defeated Lewis-Palmer 35-13 in a Zero Week home game last year.

Ramirez is hoping for similar results.

“We just want to play the game,” Ramirez said. “Our kids are anxious to play a game. It will help us find out where we’re at after you put all the work in the offseason and summer and see if it pays off.”

Ramirez admitted there’s one area during Zero Week that’s his biggest concern.

“There’s a lot of stress trying to get your special teams ready,” he said. “Add to that what you’ve tried to do to prepare your offense and defense and it’s very stressful.”

Playing up a classification in the opener against Longmont, a Class 4A playoff participant last season, also can be nerve-racking. Five of East’s six nonleague games are against 2013 playoff opponents.

“Our hands will be full with Longmont,” Ramirez said. “A lot of their skills guys are back. They gave South a great game in the playoffs last season, so it’s going to be a great test.”

East is coming off back-to-back seasons of playoff runs — reaching the Class 3A state semifinals in 2012 and getting to the quarterfinals a year ago.

“School’s not in session yet for us but we’d sure like to see a big crowd,” said Ramirez, whose team will play the first of six nonleague games. “Last year we played two games before school even started, so we’re used to this.”